California’s Deforestation Due to Wildfire

The Forest Service graphic below shows the results of the 2000-2009 fire season in California. About 1% of California’s fires chalk up 90% of the total acreage burned. Half a million acres that had the potential to provide wood instead produced smoke filled with carbon dioxide and water vapor.

According to the United Nations, deforestation accounts for nearly one-quarter of human-caused greenhouse gases. Half a million acres were converted by fire and maybe one-tenth of that has been replanted.